Comparative investigation of accuracy of measurements of CEJ-to-alveolar crest distance in periapical conventional and digital radiographs corrected for attenuation and visual response

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to determine and compare the accuracy of measurements of CEJ-to-alveolar crest (AC) distance in periapical conventional and digital radiographs corrected for attenuation and visual response.Materials and methods: Sixty-three interproximal bone sites adjacent to posterior teeth with different amounts of horizontal bone loss in dried human mandibles were selected in the present experimental study. The CEJ-AC distances in the mandibles were assessed and employed as gold standard. Periapical and digital radiographs (parallel technique) were exposed with the CCD sensor and E-speed films. Digital radiographs were processed with Dental Eye program to correct for attenuation and visual response. The CEJ-AC distances were assessed on conventional and corrected digital radiographs. The results of the two radiographic measurements were compared with gold standard by paired t-test. Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the two radiographic measurements was calculated with gold standard (α = 0.05).Results: The accuracy of CEJ-AC distance measurements on conventional and digital radiographs was estimated to be 86%. Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the gold standard and measurements on conventional (r = 0.90) and digital radiographs (r = 0.92) indicated strong correlation between the gold standard and the two radiographic measurements (p value > 0.001).Conclusion: Digital radiographs corrected for x-ray attenuation and visual response are comparable to conventional radiographs in accuracy for measurements of CEJ-AC distance. Key words: Alveolar crest, CEJ, Conventional radiography, Digital radiography.